Mumbai welcomes Lord Ganesha with folded hands and open arms

Ganpati bappa morya, mangal murti morya - that is what entire Mumbai is chanting today. The first day of Ganesh Chaturthi and arrival of Lord Ganesh in the maximum city is getting celebrated with full of excitement.

Since early morning, every road is heading to Ganesh pandal. More than one lakh Ganesh idols have arrived in Mumbai. From poor to highly rich, Ganesh mandal are busy in welcoming their lord.

Long queue is seen at Lalbaug ka Raja, GSB Ganesh mandal, Kingcircle, Ganesh galli, Siddhivinayak temple and many other noted Ganesh mandals to see the colourful decorations and get blessings of Lord Ganesha.

Day started with serving fruits, modak and morning aarti. Some do it for one and half day and big mandals will serve for next 11 days. Devotees with their family are shuttling between one Ganesh pandal to another witnessing varieties of Ganesh idols in different forms and colours.

This year, Ganesh galli mandal has created the replica of Somnath Temple of Gujarat for their devotees.

Major attraction is Lalbaug ka Raja for his iconic idol. Thousands of devotees were standing in long queue since last night for first mukhdarshan and first aarti. Nitin Kadam, a regular devotee coming all the way from Virar (30km away) said, "Our entire family comes every year, no matter how crowded it is. Lalbaug ka Raja has fulfilled all our wishes so its our duty to pay our visit."

Lakhs of devotees will visit Lalbaug ka Raja Ganesh mandal including celebrities from films and television. This year, Lalbaug ka Raja has been insured for almost Rs 50 crore, it includes Ganesh idol, pandal, sevadaars and devotees.

Among these big celebrities Ganesh idols, GSB Ganesh mandal of Kingcircle is the prominent one for being the costliest Ganesh murti. It wears 80kg of gold and good kg of silver and precious stones. Due to high gold price, this year it is being insured for whopping Rs 223 crore.

Keeping security in mind, these prominent ganesh mandals have installed large number of CCTV cameras, metal detectors, private security guards, local volunteers and so on - making sure that each individual coming inside the pandal is monitored.

Overall, its a good beginning and cheerful mood of Mumbaikars on the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi.